//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: The rescuers down under // Story: Itinerant Kingdom // by Istaran //------------------------------// [You wanted more broken ponies,] Wind Chaser thought flatly. I looked around our little cell desperately, though it was hard to make this situation seem hopeful. The ponies in here were certainly in need of rescue, and probably a fair bit of fixing up. From interviewing them all briefly, I knew that none of them had any family or friends they hoped to return to.. several of them had been orphans to begin with, others knew right where their family was: in a deep pit several meters away where our captors dumped the bodies of those who no longer had a use. They had lost track of how long they had been down here, but at a guess some were here for months, others for years. In some ways they were ideal recruits for the Itinerant Kingdom, and we certainly needed every pony we could get, even if it was just as 'love cows' like Stud Muffin. Our population was still dangerously unbalanced in favor of changelings. Their injuries were also a point in their favor as recruits. The kingsblood could repair just about any physical harm in hours at most. The unicorns had metal rings in our horns, locked in place by a nail painfully hammered straight through the bone and flesh of the sensitive organs, denying us access to horn magic. That included not only Midnight Oil, but also Wind Chaser and myself on account of our disguises. The pegasi present including Fog Dancer had had their wing bones brutally snapped. I wasn't sure yet what was wrong with the earth ponies but they looked.. unwell. My guess was some kind of poisoning to sap their strength. None of it was beyond the kingsblood's abilities to repair though, and Fog's wings were already ready for flight again, while the rings on our horns were naught but a superficial part of our disguise at this point. On the other hand.. as they were, the captives couldn't generate any love. Being malnourished was a part of it, as we were barely given enough food to survive, and when the exertion of the mining expeditions we were cycled into was added, it often wasn't enough to survive on. But more pressing was the influence of the black crystals surrounding us. They apparently amplified fear, and somehow seemed to grow bigger and stronger the more fear they amplified. Interestingly, they tended to quell panic and adrenaline; instead pushing ponies into a crippling, despairing form of fear, where both fight and flight seemed impossibly daunting. "Have any of you heard of the 'Itinerant King'?" I queried, wondering if my reputation had managed to make it down here. I didn't recognize any of the ponies from my rescue missions, but it was worth asking. It might be a hook to try to inspire them with a bit of hope. None of the ponies would meet my eye when I said that, though it wasn't much of a change. "I have," one of the pegasi, a brightly colored mare named Sunbeam, said at length, looking a bit sad. "There was a little filly here a few days ago. She kept saying the Itinerant King would rescue us for sure. She was so brave.. she was even able to get within half a meter of the crystals! So the guards killed her and dumped her in the hole." "What was her name?" I asked, already guessing the answer. "Cherry Blossom," she confirmed. I grit my teeth, rage welling up in me. It was the sweet little filly that had crowned me in a circlet of flowers just days before. The ponies watched me sadly as my rage took form visible, waves of black energy rising from my form like ominous flames, only to be quickly syphoned off into the crystals around us. I collapsed then, the rage literally ripped from my heart, along with all of the energy in me. "Don't get mad," Sunbeam suggested belatedly. "It just feeds the crystals faster." I struggled to regain my feet. "Cherry Blossom was right. I am the Itinerant King, and I have come and I will rescue you. I only wish I had been fast enough to rescue her as well. Have some faith in me. But also patience. Help is on the way." The ponies looked at me sadly. I think they foresaw the breaking of my spirit, and wished they didn't have to watch it once again. It was really tempting to let my spirit break as I watched the guards dump nine changeling bodies into the pit. Their subnets assured me they were still very much alive, but they would need significant repairs before they regained consciousness, and the pit itself was lined with more black crystals, making it troublesome for them to try to fly themselves out. The guards had somehow seen our attack coming, and had ambushes in place for each of our ambushes. Changelings are naturally quite prone to anger, and the guards were able to use black crystals embedded in their muzzles, hidden under the bandanas they habitually wore, to syphon the energy out of them. Meanwhile, the changelings had tried to rip the love out of the ponies, only to find they functioned quite well without it. It was a very poor matchup for our side. And now my poor subjects needed love all the more, love we didn't have a ready source for. Oak Breaker finally showed himself in person. The crystal growths on his muzzle were new, though I suspected they were simply newly expanded. "Just look at all of you now," he gloated. "See where your treachery has gotten you? Your disloyalty. Your hubris and self-righteousness? You two could have been my faithful mares and enjoyed the fruits of my labor, but instead you had to run off with this riff raff and try to steal my bucking house! Do you have any idea who you are messing with? No? Do you need a hint?" "You, umm.. you have a little something.. right there." I pointed a hoof at my muzzle, where the crystals were growing out of his. "I would offer you a napkin or something to wipe it off, but I don't have any at hoof." He got angry at that, but unfortunately for us the black crystals fed their power into him, magnifying his rage rather than stealing it. In a blur of darkness he was upon me, with a powerful buck that lived up to his name. My body went flying clear across the ring of crystals, and slammed into a crystal encrusted pillar of stone, several of the dark crystals piercing my body and emerging from the other side. Unable to resist, I began screaming in a combination of pain and unmitigated terror. The screaming continued unabated as my mind slipped from this world. I think Oak Breaker tried to yell at me to shut up or something, I wasn't really listening. He finally wandered off, losing patience trying to get enough quiet to finish gloating. In the darkness of my own mind, I stood before my greatest fear. He sat before me bearing my original human form, but clad in a crimson wizards robe. He gestured for me to sit, so I did, looking down at myself as I did so. I was in the form I had used when slaying the changelings in Canterlot, the form of the killer king: an anthropomorphized male alicorn, more or less. "I can't help you," Istaran began. "I was afraid you were going to say that.. " I replied. "I know, it's why I was compelled to say it, and why it is true. My character is that of a being who knows no fear, and you are drowning in fear. So, you simply cannot be me. Not now. That said, you do seem like you are well on your way to becoming me, bit by bit. You even have a zombie cyborg minion. You have no idea how flattering that is to me! So.. I know I said I can't help you, and I can't let you 'tag out'. But.. perhaps I could give you a couple pieces of advice on how to be a better villain?" he offered. I was about to object, since I didn't want to be a villain, but at last I shrugged. "Go on." "First: delegate. Let minions do minion work, and henchmen do all the henching. You are the last boss, you should make your enemies work their way up to you, not step straight into the fray at the first opportunity. Especially with your powers, you can contribute a lot from the background, and even learn combat skills from your minion's experiences. Don't let them see the Itinerant King bleed until it's time to write your epic finale," he suggested. "Well, not again anyways." "I suppose that applies to kings as well as villains, with a little translation.." I admitted. "Second: it's always the quirky scrappy underdog squad that no one in their right mind would fear that gets you. Remember that," Istaran said. I was still pondering it when I came to, my limp body being dragged toward the pit. The guards were surprised to see me still alive, but they bucked me into the hole anyways, not bothering to watch my descent or notice the flash of green magic providing wings to break my fall. Disposition of the Itinerant Kingdom: Daniel Holden, a.k.a. South Wind, a.k.a. Blank Slate, a.k.a. the Itinerant King Plus nine assorted changelings. Location: bottom of a mass grave. Status: low on love, pinned in with black crystals, recovering from severe injuries. Wind Chaser (changeling), Midnight Oil (unicorn), and Fog Dancer (pegasus). Location: ring of black crystals, along with a half dozen worthless scaredy ponies. Status: less incapacitated than they look, but still in a tight spot. null (zombie cyborg changeling), Mirage (changeling), Dill (changeling cook), Stud Muffin (uninitiated 'love cow') and one egg. Location: hidden lair in the woods. Status: awaiting orders! Mirror (changeling impersonating Midnight Oil). Location: A school for foals in Canterlot. Status: About to be put to the test!